Mugello, Italy: Scott Redding gave the Moto2 field a master class in controlling a race from the front today, as he stormed to his second successive win in as many weeks at Mugello. Mika Kallio ended a difficult weekend on a high by taking a hard fought fifth place finish after starting from 13th position on the grid.

Redding, starting from pole position for the second time this season, looked to be in control from the off, shadowing Takaaki Nakagami until the Japanese rider started to slow and then making his move to take the race lead.

Nico Terol managed to draft his way past on the start finish straight at mid-race distance but, after leading for just four laps, was relegated back to second place by a hard charging Redding, who then pulled out a gap that he maintained to the chequered flag.

Redding's successive victories at Le Mans and Mugello is the first time a British rider has had back-to-back wins in the intermediate class since Rod Gould in 1971. The Marc VDS rider is also now the youngest British rider to take back-to-back Grand Prix wins, a record previously held by the late, great Barry Sheene.

The Mugello win means Redding extends his lead at the top of the Moto2 Championship standings to 43 points over Nico Terol who, along with Frenchman Johann Zarco, joined the championship leader on the podium today.

Mika Kallio put the troubles of practice and qualifying behind him today, to finish an impressive fifth and consolidate his third position in the championship standings. The 30-year-old Finn started today from 13th on the grid, but a lightning start and a late braking move into turn one, saw him emerge in sixth position. Kallio led the second group for the remainder of the race, but lost out on fourth place to Pol Espargaro in the final few laps.

Livio Loi endured a difficult Moto3 race, as he struggled with the same issues that had plagued him during practice and qualifying. The 16-year-old Belgian eventually finished in 25th position and, after putting this weekend behind him, is already looking forward to rediscovering his form in Barcelona in two weeks time.

Redding, Kallio and Loi will remain at Mugello for testing, with Moto2 scheduled to take to the track on Monday and Moto3 on Tuesday.

Scott Redding #45: 1st"What a weekend! It didn't start well, as I just didn't feel comfortable on the bike, but after consigning it to the skip on Saturday morning, the new bike felt much better. Qualifying on pole really boosted my confidence and once we got going I knew straight away that another win was a possibility. I slotted in behind Taka, pushing past when he started to slow and immediately pulled a gap. I'm not sure how Terol and Zarco caught me, but once Terol went in front I could see he wasn't comfortable running the pace. I have no idea why he decided to let me through, but I wasn't going to pass up a chance like that. I knew I could pull away, and that's what I did."

Mika Kallio #36: 5th"I got a great start and managed to go up the inside into turn one, coming out in sixth position. I lost a couple of places over the next few laps and then Corsi dropped his pace by almost a second in front of me and, by the time I pushed my way through, he'd allowed the front four to get away. I knew it was better to push to stay at the front of the group, rather than dropping back and getting involved in the battle that I knew was going on behind me. When Pol came past towards the end I had a plan to retake fourth on the final lap, but he pulled just enough of a gap out of the Biondetti chicane to stop me out braking him into the final corner. I almost drafted him to the line, but he managed to just hold me off. Anyway, I'm happy with fifth after the problems we've had this weekend."

Livio Loi #11: 25th"This is a weekend I'll be happy to put behind me. We had problems from the start of practice and we didn't find a solution. In the race I again had to fight the bike into every turn, just to get it to follow a line, but the more I tried to force it into the corner the more the front tried to break away from me. Obviously I'm disappointed because I came here to Mugello looking for points, but we need to put this one down to experience and use Tuesday's test here to make sure we're ready for the next race in Barcelona."

Marc van der Straten: President, Marc VDS Racing Team"It was a pleasure to watch Scott take his second win in succession by controlling the race so effectively at the front. Even when he wasn't leading you could see quite clearly he had everything in hand and, for me, the win was never in doubt. Mika also showed his fighting spirit, taking an impressive fifth place despite experiencing so many problems during practice and qualifying. I know Livio is disappointed with his result today, but it's more experience for him and I'm confident we'll see him back on form next time out in Barcelona. Finally, it made me very proud to see Michael Bartholemy walk onto the podium to collect the trophy for the winning team today. He has worked tirelessly to make the Marc VDS Racing Team one of the best in the Grand Prix paddock and it was satisfying for me personally to see him rewarded for his efforts today."

More, from a press release issued by MAPFRE Aspar Team:

MAPFRE ASPAR RIDERS HAVE SPECTACULAR SHOWING AT MUGELLO

Nico Terol finishes runner-up in Italian GP and moves into second in overall standings. Jordi Torres places sixth and equals best result with MAPFRE Aspar Team

The Moto2 race lived up to expectations in Mugello, following the close practice sessions that had preceded it. Takaaki Nakagami tried to lead the way early from second on the grid, whilst poleman Scott Redding stuck with him as expected. The two opened up a small gap, closed first by Nico Terol and then by Johann Zarco, as the podium battle began. Nakagami crashed out and Terol and Redding exchanged the lead, leaving Zarco behind later on when the latter upped the pace. Terol completed the race second, behind Redding, as the rostrum places were decided in a great contest.

MAPFRE Aspar rider Nico Terol took his second podium of the season today, with a superb second place. He was steady during every practice session, albeit unspectacular, but showed his racing spirit with a great performance from fifth on the grid. He responded to the early push from Nakagami and Redding with a fastest lap to catch them up. He battled with Redding and led for four laps of the Italian Grand Prix, eventually finishing runner-up and gaining another World Championship podium.

Jordi Torres also gave a great showing at Mugello. He held onto his starting position and moved up into fourth at one stage in the race. The Spaniard diced with various big names in the Moto2 class, and continued to learn how to best defend places. He rode with a battling chasing pack and crossed the line sixth, equaling his best ever result for the MAPFRE Aspar Team from Valencia 2012.

2nd Nico Terol: "I am very happy with this great result. From the start I showed a lot of determination and was explosive. The last corner of the third sector had been holding me back throughout the weekend, so today I tried to address it in a thousand ways so as not to lose touch with Scott. But with an empty tank the bike did not load much weight on the front, and I noticed that a gap was slowly opening up. I tried to stick with him, but he found four tenths on the final laps. In any case I am very satisfied with both the podium and with the work done the entire weekend. This result confirms that our mentality has changed, that despite Moto2 being a very difficult category this year we are doing a great job, and progressively we are gaining consistency. Tomorrow we have a very important test that will help us finish off adjusting to the chattering that we experienced this weekend. We have climbed back up to second in the championship, which gives us great morale for the next round at Montmelo."

6th Jordi Torres: "I had great fun in the race today. We had sensed it would be an ordeal, because the long straight hinders us a bit, so I had to get stuck in from the beginning. The mentality throughout the race was to nip at the riders ahead of me and try and work my way up the order by making things uncomfortable for them. Every time that I got onto the straight I could feel people slipstreaming me, so I had to defend in any way I could, bringing out my aggressive side. I am delighted with the way this weekend developed; on Friday we were lost and yesterday we turned the situation around completely. I have to say that the team have done a great job and gave me a bike with which I gained a lot of confidence. Today we learnt many things that will be useful in the coming races. My teammate also achieved a great result, and to see him on the podium motivates me to think that maybe one day I too can be there. Congratulations to Nico, because he ride brilliantly."

More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:

Corsi and De Angelis in the Top 10 at Mugello

The Mugello GP comes to an end with positive results for the NGM Mobile Forward Racing Riders.

Simone Corsi and Alex De Angelis finish the race in the Top10 in seventh and eighth place respectively with their SpeedUp bike in a vey disputed race. Good start for the Spanish rider Ricky Cardús who after a very difficult qualifying session yesterday has managed a nineteenth place. A complicated beginning of the race for Mattia Pasini who jump-started the race and was penalized with a drive through.

The NGM Mobile Forward Riders finish the home race at Mugello taking many points and will and will stay one more day at the Italian track for an official day of testing.

Simone Corsi

“I am not at all satisfied of the today’s results, we could have done better. I had a good start of the race managing to gain many positions but the front four were already gone and it became complicated to catch up with them. I suffered on the third sector losing four tenths but the feeling with the bike was good. I am sorry for the end of race position I wanted to do better at the home race. Our goal is to be in the top positions and for that we have to work more and take full advantage of tomorrow’s test day to find the right solutions.”

Alex De Angelis

“We could have done better but it was a good race. The battle with Simone Corsi definitely made me lose some positions and at the very end stuck in traffic in the group in which we were both in and found myself having to fight again to regain positions. Its a real shame because my race pace was good, my lap times are 1´53s, very close to the lap times of the head of the race. Overall it was a positive race, the best so far this season and the gap at the end of the race is the best one so far. I take this as the restart of the season with this new chassis. I am only sorry that I wasn’t able to do a bit better.”

Mattia Pasini

“I am disappointed, after the Le Mans GP and Friday’s positive start I was expecting to do better for our home race. Today I have paid a high price for a little mistake at the start of the race and after yesterday’s two crashes I lost a bit of feeling with the bike. Fortunately tomorrow we test: we have an important day ahead of us, we have to go over everything we have done this weekend in order to be competitive at Barcelona. The Spaniards have won in our territory and it will be our turn to do the same in their territory at the next GP.”

Ricardo Cardus

“I started the race very concentrated, I really wanted to have a good start after all the difficulties that we have encountered during the weekend but it was complicated to be fast after al the problems we have had. It is a track that I really enjoy but I was not able to do good lap times. I made a good start but was held back battling in the first corners going on the gravel and making it difficult to get a good pace. Knowing that the race was over for me I focused on gaining confidence with the bike. We have a testing program for tomorrow in which we will be trying several modifications that we hope will help us at the Montmelo GP. I have to regain the concentration in order to be fast with this bike.”

More, from a press release issued by Blusens Avintia Moto2 Team:

Toni Elías moves up, scores and rides at the pace of the best ones at the GP of Italy

Kyle manages to finish twenty-first after starting from the back row

Mugello. Although on Saturday things did not go as expected, this Sunday the Blusens Avintia Moto2 team, led by Toni Elías, achieved a good result at Mugello, above all, taking into account that Toni began from the seventh row after being twenty-first in the qualifying session. Elías did a good start and a first turn in which he showed a tough and effective riding, and he completed the first lap in sixteenth position, moving up little by little to catch the group that preceded him. A group formed by Simeón, Kalio, Corsi, De Angelis, Espargaró, Torres, Aegerter, Schrotter and Luthi, who occupied the positions from the fourth to the thirteenth. Toni did battle with them, being able to be ninth with three turns remaining. But at the end, the slipstream play prevented him from keeping the tenth position by only seven thousandths. Toni has quality to be higher, but the result should be considered positive after yesterday?s bad qualifying and proves that both the team and the rider have the ability to ride among the best ones of the category.

Kyle Smith also did a good job because, starting from the back row, he managed to cross the finishing line in twenty-first place, very close to his goal of ending on the top twenty. Kyle did a race from less to more and he felt much better than yesterday in the practice sessions, in which he was not able to be comfortable.

24 Toni Elías (11th, +12.173): The spot on the grid was bad to be able to be ahead, but I have done a good start and a good first lap that has allowed me to move up and catch the second group. I have had a better pace than in the practice sessions and I have given the maximum. We need a little bit of top speed and here it is more noticeable, but I am happy with today's race and satisfied with the work of the team. Today they have given me a bike that has worked very well in relation to the cycle part and that has allowed me to fight with the group and have a pace that would have permitted me to be fourth. Now we go to Montmeló and I would like to achieve a good result at the home circuit. We will see.

9 Kyle Smith (21st, +45.584): I have improved my best time of the weekend and I have felt more at ease than yesterday. I have been able to fight with a group and that has allowed me to get experience and learn a little more. At the end I have finished further back of what I wanted, but with respect to yesterday I have improved perceptibly. Now it is coming Montmeló, where I hope to start with more pace, because there I have part of the work done. I am still in high spirits, willing to learn and improve.

More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:

Happy end for Anthony West after clutch problems – unlucky Rafid Topan Sucipto falls again

QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West struggled with an over-heating clutch at the start of the Italian Grand Prix and dropped back from the middle of the Moto2 field to the last position. With his never-give-up attitude, the 31-year-old Australian clawed his way back when the clutch cooled down, making up position by position to reach 20th place in the end. Despite the poor result, West was still happy after the race, as he finally found the right feeling for his revised Speed Up bike that had been equipped with a new chassis for the Mugello weekend.

Team-mate Rafid Topan Sucipto, who had improved significantly over the practice days, missed out on his chance to turn his performance into a strong race result when he crashed on only the first lap of the race. The young rider from Jakarta went into one of the turns a bit too hot and unluckily took fellow Indonesian rider Doni Tata Pradita out as well.

Anthony West – 20th place“I had a decent start and I think I was in about 18th position by the second chicane. I passed another rider going into the next corner and I went open throttle, but then the clutch started slipping. I tried to push, but there was no power from the bike. Here at Mugello, they held the red light longer than normal at the start, so the clutch overheated. It seems strange to me, because I never had this problem ever before in my life. Apparently, the clutch was new, but I think there must be something wrong with it, because it is not normal that only one start, just holding the clutch a little bit longer than normal, should create such a big problem. My guess is that there is a fault in the clutch, because it is the second time this weekend that we had a problem with it. It’s really disappointing. But I am happy with the lap times that I did towards the end of the race, when the clutch finally cooled down and I was able to get back into a rhythm. I should have done these times in qualifying! But at least it’s promising that the new chassis works well. I started to feel good with the bike and to get confident, that’s why I was able to drop my lap times. I have been a bit confused lately, with changing so many things, but now I’m quite happy. If we continue with this bike for the next races, our results will improve!”

Rafid Topan Sucipto – did not finish“I had a good start and wanted to fight for a good result. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very far and crashed again. I am sorry for the team and sorry for Doni Tata Pradita as well!”

More, from a press release issued by ItalTrans/AGP Racing:

Once again, a great result in qualifying didn't produce an equal great result in the race. Takaaki Nakagami crashed while fighting the fastest, and with excellent opportunities for a podium.

Julian Simon has gone through the entire race to the finish line, but classified out of the points. It's a difficult season, for him. Tomorrow (Monday) the team is going to stay in Mugello for a test.

Julian Simon (40'26”118 - 17th ) “Not a great start. Not only I didn't made up places, but I lost a few. I tried to reduce the gap with the second group – I had the pace – but, suddenly, they gained one second. I had a few problems into the corners. I'm really sorry for the result – it was our home race. It's a difficult moment. I hope that tomorrow's test is going to help us to fix the problems”.

Takaaki Nakagami (dnf) “Since the warm-up, the clutch didn't give me a good feeling - I didn't like it, and I had the same feeling before the race. In the race, I could not open a gap, and be fast into the corners. When I've been overtaken, I simply tried to follow them, without trying anything silly or risky. I was calm, attentive, and far away from the limit. There was a little bit of chattering, but I was able to manage. The advantage over the riders behind was growing slowly but constantly. Suddenly, I crashed. We lost race, maybe podium and certainly points. We are going to examine the data and think about what happened”.

Claudio Macciotta (Nakagami race engineer) “One more chance lost, because the crash that Takaaki ascribes to clutch. We had problems in the warm-up and substituted the parts that we thought had to be with parts already used in qualifying. Same set-up. Quite clearly, something changed, as far as Takaaki's feeling was concerned. Tomorrow we are going to test again all the material, to understand what has been the problem”.

Pierluigi Aldrovandi (Simon race engineer) “It's a strange situation, because what we change do not change the lap times or the rider's feeling. If it were purely a technical problem it would be easier, but I fear it is not just a technical issue -we are absolutely determined to help Simon, who is a rider that must not give up. He has to fight. We hope that tomorrow's test will help us to understand”.

Luigi Pansera (Team manager) “Five GPs. Five front rows, in qualifying. In the race, just a podium and a fourth place. Once we retired, and twice crashed. If we are constantly on the first row, this is, no doubt, because we have an excellent rider and bike. Now, the point is: what happens, between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon? What changes? It cannot be just the fate. We must understand what is tripping us, and fix the problem”.

More, from a press release issued by Bel-Ray:

Bel-Ray Racer Nico Terol Scores Runner Up Finish in Mugello

Espargaro again Top CRT Racer

FARMINGDALE, N.J. (June 3, 2013) ? The beautiful hills and valleys of the Tuscan countryside hosted this past weekend’s Mugello round of the World Championship series. Thirty kilometers northeast of Florence, the Ferrrari-owned Mugello circuit is widely recognized as one of the most scenic and up-to-date facilities on the grand prix tour. Bel-Ray racer Nico Terol performed exceptionally well with his second podium of the season—a strong runner-up finish in the Moto2 class. Three other Bel-Ray racers scored top 10 finishes during the weekend as well.

Moto2-Coming from a fifth-place grid position, Terol was quickly into third place on the opening lap and into second a short time later. Battling with race leader Scott Redding, Terol was able to overtake the British rider and lead for four laps. Redding did get back around the Bel-Ray-powered Terol, who held on for a runner-up spot at the checkered flag. This result pushed him into a tie for second place in the championship series standings. “I am very happy with this great result,” said Terol following the exciting race. “In any case, I am very satisfied with both the podium and with the work done the entire weekend. This result confirms that our mentality has changed, that despite Moto2 being a very difficult category this year we are doing a great job, and progressively we are gaining consistency.”

Terol’s teammate Jordi Torres also raced to an excellent result in Mugello, scoring his best result with the Aspar team. “I had great fun in the race today,” said Torres. “We had sensed it would be an ordeal, because the long straight hinders us a bit, so I had to get stuck in from the beginning. The mentality throughout the race was to nip at the riders ahead of me and try and work my way up the order by making things uncomfortable for them. Every time that I got onto the straight I could feel people slipstreaming me, so I had to defend in any way I could, bringing out my aggressive side. Today we learned many things that will be useful in the coming races.”

MotoGP-Once again, the Bel-Ray-supported Power Electronics team showed its dominance in the CRT division of MotoGP racing. Spaniard Aleix Espargaro scored an eighth-place finish, tying the best-ever CRT result in MotoGP competition—a result he earned in 2012 in Sepang. Teammate Randy DePuniet began the day with a crash in the morning warmup session but was able to rebound from the adversity to finish with a respectable 11th-place result. “When you finish a Grand Prix weekend, there are some races that you like more than others. I think today, along with Jerez, has been the best of the season so far,” said Espargaro. “I’ve spent two seasons at POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar, and it is a team that is professional but like a family. This is the basis of all our successes. I think we are near the limit of this bike, so we will continue working to see how much further we can go with it.” Added DePuniet, “This morning in the warm-up session, I suffered a heavy crash after losing the front—and without knowing why I went down. That made me lose feel when cornering. I started the race with great caution, not wanting to crash again. Fortunately, despite riding with caution, we achieved a very positive result.”

Moto3-Bel-Ray’s Jonas Folger began the day on the pole position and led the event in the early laps before Maverick Vinales passed him by for the lead. Folger would stick with the lead group until the midway point of the race, when he began developing tire issues that forced him to ride conservatively in order to avoid a crash. He eventually crossed the line in sixth place, less than four seconds behind the race winner. This result keeps Folger in fourth place in the series standings. “After a good start I tried to push hard, but the race times were slow compared with the laps we’d been doing in practice,” said Folger. “I tried to stay in the leading group, but soon after I noticed that the bike was behaving in a completely different way than yesterday and this morning. I suffered a lot of chattering from the middle of the race onward, and that prevented me from maintaining good lines on my laps. I had to be very careful in order to avoid crashing, but I still tried to push hard for the best possible final position and I managed to cross the line sixth.”

The series will take a one-week break before resuming in Spain for the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya on June 16th.

Team Aspar racers, (top to bottom) Aleix Espargaro, Randy DePuniet, Jordi Torres, Nico Terol and Jonas Folger all rely on Bel-Ray Performance Lubricants to perform at the top level of World Championship Competition. The same product can be found on dealer's shelves worldwide.

ABOUT BEL-RAY COMPANY, INC.

Bel-Ray Company, Inc.was founded in 1946 and is a privately held, woman-owned business serving the lubrication needs of powersports, industrial and mining customers worldwide. Bel-Ray is recognized as the leader in the specialty lubricants industry for setting high standards of quality and performance with products formulated for the motorcycle, automotive, aviation, energy, food, marine, military, mining, OEM, industrial steel, and textile industries. “Flex Your Engine” with Bel-Ray’s superior Powersports line that delivers top quality Made-in-the-USA products to motorcycle and recreational vehicle enthusiasts around the world. Bel-Ray products are available at powersports dealers worldwide. Visit Bel-Ray.com for a complete dealer listing. Find the right lubricant for your equipment with Bel-Ray’s Lubricant Advisor. Like us on Facebook.com/BelRay or follow us on Twitter/Bel_Ray.